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Why should we dance in Early years? - Coggle Diagram
Why should we dance in Early years?
Communication and Language
Teacher uses exaggerated intonation.
Talk to the children using their names.
Move with children, talk and demonstrate what you're doing.
An opportunity to verbally and visually communicate with children.
Helps the children make connections between words and actions.
Introduce vocabulary by using props and directions.
As the children progress, use of vocabulary can be increase inline with their development.
Opportunity for the children to learn and understand new words.
Opportunity to check for understanding with children by asking for demonstrations.
Dance classes are an adult led session, challenging the children to follow instructions.
Great way to develop cognitive ability by challenging children to listen, move and sing all at the same time.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Helps children to create a sense of self by interacting with others in a group environment.
Opportunity to to explore and learn about their bodies through movement and names of body parts.
Creates a space to try new things.
Organised session help the children to learn about boundaries and rules.
A fun way to learn to experiment with gestures and builds the children's variety of expression.
Physical Development
By providing interesting toys, encourages the children to engage and explore the space to reach and get involved.
For babies the sessions can encourage the children to pass props from one hand to the other and encourage fine motor skills to grip.
Dance builds muscle strength in all areas of body.
Classes help children gain control of their bodies and learn what their bodies can do. They can do this be practising crawling, walking, marching, clapping, skipping, balancing, hopping, stamping and spinning.
Dance encourages progression with balance.
Sessions encourage young children to develop their gestures, such as waving and clapping.
Encourages children to build muscle memory and remember sequences with movement and rhythmic elements.
Promotes all fundamental skills for everyday movement.
Literacy
Allows time to learn and enjoy songs and rhymes.
Builds ability to connect movements and gestures to words.
Classes can help build understanding of story telling, by allowing children to decide what song or dance they do next.
Use songs that have a story element, such as 'Miss Polly had a Dolly.'
Aids the children in building awareness of rhyme.
Mathematics
Counting, linking numbers to amounts - Claps, sounds, beats, marches, skips, stomps, etc.
Begin to understand beats.
As the children develop, you can begin to vary the amount of steps, marches and claps, etc.
Include mathematical language such as 'Big', 'Small', 'More', 'Less', 'Louder' and 'Softer'.
Begin to encourage the children to think about Shape and patterns their bodies can make.
Include positional language, for example - On your head, on your tummy, behind your back, next to your feet.
Classes challenge children to negotiate space, moving around the classroom as well as each other.
Begin to link patterns and repetition in movement and music.
Having consistency in class, supports the children in understanding a pattern of events and what is happening now and next.
Expressive Arts and Design
Its a way of introducing sounds, music and movement to children.
Music and movement encourages a physical and emotional response with allows an outlet for children.
Classes provided a space to explore dynamics, tempo, pitch and rhythm.
Dance sessions encourage the children to learn and make choices based on pattern, rhythm, repetition, movement and sound.
Taking part in action songs supports children to link movement to words and timing.
Dance provides a space for children to explore emotion and expression though music and movement.
Sessions should encourage children to sing along, so express themselves through words.
It is a safe environment for children to be creative and experiment.
Understanding the World
Share and experience music from different cultures.
Opportunity to explore regional dance traditions.
Experience different carnivals and celebrations.
Discuss and develop knowledge of dance as a profession.
Opens the floor to discuss personal experience such as external classes or trips to the theatre.
Characteristics of effective teaching and learning.
Playing and Exploring.
Session encourage children to explore the environment.
Supports children in learning and understanding speech and language.
Sessions present new ideas which children can take away and explore in free play.
Provides an opportunity where the children can choose to 'have a go'.
Provides an experience children may not get outside of the nursery environment.
Presents opportunity to discuss external experiences in this genre, such as classes or theatre trips.
Creating and thinking critically.
Allows children a space to experiment with movement.
develop and critical understand of what their body can and can't do.
Circle times following session, support the children's learning by reflecting on their experience in the session.
Challenge the children to create their own choreography.
Open the sessions for discussion on how better to achieve goals.
Discuss why and how the body works during exercise.
Active Learning
Provides a safe and stimulating space for the children to explore.
Introduces idea to routine and sequencing.
Develops self-regulation by talking about what we are doing.
Repetition of sessions and during sessions allows children to develop and learn at their own pace.
References
Lumby, V (2021) Reflective Scenario - Dance
Grenier. J (2020)
Working with the revised Early Years Foundation Stage: Principles into Practice.
Sheringham: Sheringham Nursery School and Children’s Centre.
Department of education (2020).
Development Matters.
London: Department of education